David Wilcox Vista CD

Vista is David Wilcox's 13th album in 17 years (that's including a live one of old songs, a best-of, and a duo disc with his wife Nance Pettit of traditional poetry set to music), and he seems to have a pretty good idea by now of what he wants to accomplish. He recorded in his home studio, then took the results into a professional studio for some polishing. Like most folkies, he is accustomed to playing by himself with his acoustic guitar every night, and so only does a little ornamentation for his recordings -- another stringed instrument or two, a keyboard instrument, a discreet rhythm section, some background vocals -- without obscuring the solo effect. And like most singer/songwriters, his goal is to provide his own viewpoint on his personal experiences and his perceptions of the larger world. In a series of warmly sung, melodic folk-pop songs, therefore, he reflects on a man's love for his wife and child, assuring the one that he can help her through "The Hard Part" and the other that he can guide him to the "Great Big World." At the same time, as a Christian still impressed by the "Miracle" of Christ's birth, he must ponder the ways in which religion can lead to terrorism ("Good Man") and patriotism can lead to war ("Into One"). He has no real answers to these problems beyond his observations of them and his hope that they can be eased, which perhaps makes him just like the rest of us. In fact, that is his value as a songwriter and performer, that, as on the leadoff track, "Get On," he can express universal feelings about, in this case, the conflict between the heart and the head in deciding whether or not to act. Wilcox is going through the same things as his audience; his gift is to put those things into song. ~ William Ruhlmann

David Wilcox"The human body experiences a powerful gravitational pull in the direction of hope," author Norman Cousins once wrote. What he forgot to add is that sometimes our sense of direction becomes clouded. The points of our compass spin wildly out of control. Obstacles get in our way. Fear, uncertainty, loneliness, pessimism, romantic estrangement - all these things conspire to keep us from living our lives to the fullest and moving in the direction of hope. David Wilcox understands this. For over fifteen years, he has been making music that bravely navigates a path through the emotional static of modern life towards a better place. With a style that The Boston Globe says "Combines the best of both pop and modern folk aesthetics," he writes songs that are wake up calls to the heart, balm for the soul. Through yearning melodies and direct lyrics, they dare us to remember the promises we made to ourselves of who we want to be. They offer us a guiding hand, along with the hope and courage to go forward . . . Into The Mystery. "For me, it feels like when I look out at the world there's just a need for people to be talking about where they get their hope now," Wilcox says, "That's what my music has always been about." "These days, there's so much adversity and loss of hope that anything you can offer that's on the positive side is a welcome relief," he continues, "This record goes through some tough issues and carries a stronger hope by the time it reaches the end. That hope is that our lives will have greater meaning because we have this opportunity to do some emotional alchemy. To take this sorrow and hopelessness and to transform it, and to see that it's because of this frightening backdrop that our lives are going to mean something, that our actions will mean something." The opening track "If It Wasn't For The Night" reaches out with soothing words against the dark night of the soul we've all known, and segues into the soaring lift of "Rise," whose chorus is like a bright morning sun coming over a verdant hill. That bond with the listener established, Wilcox shines his songwriting light on some difficult issues: concern for disappearing nature and wildlife in "Last One Gone," the way our m